Yes, I said, “delusioned.” LOL The minute I said it I knew it wasn’t quite right. Deluded is right. But did I acknowledge it? No. Go with it. It’s the control I managed to exercise during the recording. See, everything has a purpose.

Most people are followers. You enjoy going with the pack. You want to fit in. Be like everybody else.

The paradox is, you don’t want to be like everybody else. You want to be like the best. The famous. The rich. The well-known.

You don’t want to be –

Average. By definition “average” is common, ordinary and typical.

You want success. You want a better life. Where do you look? Well, the experts of course!

You opt-in to list after list. You read all the right blogs. And books.

You purchase all the Internet Marketing products. Still, no success.

What’s wrong?

You don’t know, but you’re convinced the successful people know something you don’t yet know.

Mat Kearney knows it’s not true. He knows the fight – the quest – is very personal. He described it as a knife fight. He had nothing left to lose as he embarked on a quest to break through to success in music. Five years of knife fighting, as he describes it.

Mitch Rossell knows it’s not true. He knows it requires the grind of playing all over Nashville every chance he gets. All the while he’s filling his notebooks with song after song – songs he’s writing. I talked with him last summer. He’s still playing as often as he can while he works a day job. Mitch is in his Hamburg. He’s in a knife fight. Time will tell whether he’ll emerge victorious or not, but I admire him for making the journey.

Stop listening. Stop reading. Stop watching. For “the secret.” There isn’t one. It’s just easier to think there is because that helps explain why others are more successful. It’s a delusion though.

Seth Godin knows there’s no secret. He knows everybody has to find their own way. Figure it out. Endure the process. Engage in their own knife fight.

Others can teach us things. They can provoke us. Yes, they can even help us. But YOU alone must do the heaviest lifting. People like me can only spot for you. The best anybody can do when you’re lifting is spot you, not lift for you.

Set out to be remarkable. Know this – remarkable isn’t a destination with a definite, quantifiable place. It’s a sliding scale that is best measured only by your capacity and capabilities. How remarkable can YOU be?

It has nothing to do with me. Or those folks who you deem to be rock stars.

While I firmly believe in the value of great information, great entertainment and great coaching – the fact is, YOU have to do the hard work of figuring it out. People can help you figure things out, but they can’t figure it out for you. It’s not going to be as much fun as consuming books, blogs, podcasts, videos and tweets. It just may be far more valuable.

Are you willing to get in a quiet place and spend some time alone with your thoughts? Until you reach that point, your remarkability will have to wait.

I’ve been doing a lot of that lately in my own life. In the coming weeks I’ll share my own insights in hopes that my work on my life can help you consider your own. No, I’m not going to be providing you with the 10 tips of this or that. Nor am I going to be telling you I’ve found “the secret.” This is MY life. You have your own. We’ve all got to find our own way.

The way to remarkable demands we stop following – and that we take leadership of our own lives! It’s not easy, but it’s worthwhile.

Here it is, kids! It’s the technical show that some of you have been clamoring for – this is the engine behind what goes on inside The Yellow Studio.

The studio is a 2-mic studio that can be expanded to three if necessary. It never is.

The studio desk seats three people. The pictures don’t depict that very well because I pushed the chairs under the desk.

Sound deadening is all handled by books, books and more books. I’ve had acoustical foam treatment in the past, but The Yellow Studio doesn’t need it. Books, art work and no open corners handle things nicely.

I prefer dimly lit rooms with cool lamps, but the studio does have overhead florescent lighting – although I never use it. The yellow walls brighten up the joint, hence the name – The Yellow Studio.

Here’s a list of the cool stuff (these are not affiliate links; I do have an affiliate list for most of my resources on this page – I’d appreciate your support):

Dr. James Vincent Bonnet , MD was an orthopedic surgeon who practiced in Grapevine, Texas. Last night news of his death arrived via text message. He was my doctor of choice for the past decade plus. If Dr. Bonnet had been a general physician, I’d have gone to see him more often. As it turned out, I saw him pretty often, as evidenced by the scars he gave me.

News of his death depressed me. Greatly.

He had lots of pictures in his office. There was a dog – an Airedale Terrier – in most of them. The Wiki page on Airedales says this, “The Airedale is a dog with a great sense of humor. For those who can laugh along with their Airedale, the dog can provide a unique and entertaining company. For those who don’t appreciate being outsmarted by their dog, owning an Airedale can be a trying experience.” I know understand why Dr. Bonnet owned an Airedale. Fitting.

Dr. Bonnet’s death saddens me, but I’m thankful for the scars I bear. The scars he gave me – intentionally. They represent healing, remedy and improved quality of life. They represent the surgeon who gave them to me. They represent the personal sacrifices he had to make to become a skilled surgeon. They represent the financial and time investment he made to become a medical doctor.

But they also represent the man he was. Dr. Bonnet was likable. That was an important component of the man. It separated him from the herd. It made him unique. It made him…weird, too. But in a good way. In the best way possible. I was immediately attracted to his personality. He was engaging. Affable. Likable.

Take advantage of today. Seize the chances you have to appreciate people who are meaningful in your life.

For me and Dr. Bonnet, there are no do-overs. But if there were, I know exactly how it’d go. He’d greet me warmly, tell me exactly what my options are and in seconds my faith and confidence in him would be reaffirmed. And even though he’d hug my wife – which he did every time she was with me – this time, I’d hug him, too.

Note: Gonesh incense burns in The Yellow Studio. No, that’s got nothing to do with anything – except it explains the smoke you see in the video. I buy Gonesh. You should, too.

It’s not the best resolution in the world, but it is the only picture available on the Internet. Dr. Bonnet has one of the smallest digital footprints I’ve ever seen (or not seen). Proof that lots of web real estate does not provide meaningful proof of one’s worth or value in the world. This post and video very well may double his digital footprint. He wouldn’t likely appreciate it, but perhaps his family – and others – will. I will miss him.

Recent discussions about the FTC crackdown on testimonials for Internet marketers have brought to light the fine arts of deception, lying and fraud. Enron and Bernie Madoff preceded this news – so it’s not quite the newsflash it might otherwise be. Cheating is commonplace.

Pick any area of human endeavor and you’ll find deception and cheating. Education, business, religion, and all others. Marketing and sales are especially susceptible to it because people are working to exchange something for money.

The competitive edge – YOUR competitive edge – can be honor, integrity and complete honesty, 100% of the time.